Fifty24MX Rallies Artists to Create Political Murals for “Manifesto”

Fifty24MX tapped into Mexico’s tradition of murals as a form of resistance with their latest project, “Manifesto.” The gallery invited a group of prominent local and international artists to create large-scale, politically-outspoken works on the streets of Mexico City in response to the country’s current socio-political situation. The line-up included Curiot, Swoon, Jaz, EricaIlCane, Blu, Bastardilla, Ciler, and Vena2. While some of the pieces are uplifting, others take to task government corruption, increasing poverty, powerful drug cartels, and other forms of oppression.

Italian artist Blu, who is known for his bitingly satirical work, created a mural of soldiers protecting a Mexican flag. The green stripe is made of US dollar bills, the white, of cocaine, and the red, of blood. In a similarly outspoken fashion, EricaIlCane’s piece depicts a monkey banging cymbals with a ribbon the colors of the Mexican flag. The piece attracted controversy, however, when the owner of the building asked EricaIlCane to change the ribbon’s colors to black, which effectively neutralized the piece’s message. In the context of the recent events of Ayotzinapa, where 43 students disappeared shortly after engaging in a political protest, EricaIlCane obliged.

The Ayotzinapa scandal illuminated the extent of government corruption in Mexico. The country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has some of the lowest approval ratings in history and the citizens seem restless for change. This is why, according to Fifty24MX, the “Manifesto” project is urgent and necessary. Despite some of the censorship that occurred, it has already sparked a dialogue, both locally and internationally because of the buzz the project has generated online. If you’re in Mexico city, you can find all the murals by checking out this map on the Fifty24MX website. Otherwise, take a look at the pieces below.